Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jul 2015
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Gosia Wozniacka, Associated Press

OREGON TV ANCHOR FIRED OVER MARIJUANA

After Minor Accident on Assignment, She Had to Take Drug Test and Failed

PORTLAND (AP) - An Oregon television anchor has turned into a 
marijuana activist after being fired for testing positive for the drug.

Cyd Maurer, a morning weekend anchor at Eugene's ABC affiliate 
KEZI-TV, said she was fired in May after getting into a minor 
accident while on assignment. In a video posted online, Maurer said 
that after the accident, she was forced to take a drug test per 
company policy and failed it.

Maurer, 25, said she was completely sober at work and had used the 
marijuana several days before. Studies show marijuana, unlike 
alcohol, can be detected in some people for days after use - or even 
weeks, in case of frequent users.

Maurer, who has been working in television for the past three years 
and is a University of Oregon graduate, said she didn't do anything 
wrong and felt the firing was discriminatory.

"I don't fit the lazy stupid loser stereotype," she said, adding 
she's a responsible user and has never come to work impaired.

KEZI general manager Mike Boring declined comment. "We do not discuss 
personnel matters," Boring said.

Recreational marijuana became legal in Oregon in July, after Maurer 
was fired. But even if the incident had happened after legalization, 
according to the state, KEZI still would have had the right to have a 
testing policy. Measure 91, which legalized possession and 
consumption, does not affect existing employment law. Employers who 
require drug testing can continue to do so, Oregon officials said.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, even though more than 
20 states - including Oregon - allow medical marijuana use. Alaska, 
Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington, D.C., also allow 
recreational use.

Kate Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the Society for Human Resource 
Management, said the organization has received numerous questions 
from members around the country about the effects of changing state 
marijuana laws on drug testing. At two national conferences this 
year, she said, training sessions about drug testing were packed to 
overflowing.

"HR professionals are trying to keep up to date with laws and make 
sure their policies incorporate the changing landscape legally," Kennedy said.

In June, a court in Colorado ruled that a medical marijuana patient 
who was fired after failing a drug test cannot get his job back. The 
patient, a quadriplegic, said he didn't use the drug at work. The 
company, Dish Network, agreed that he wasn't high on the job, but it 
said it has a zero-tolerance drug policy.

The Colorado justices ruled that because marijuana is illegal under 
federal law, use of the drug couldn't be considered legal off-duty activity.

The case was being watched closely by employers and pot smokers in 
states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Supreme 
courts in California, Montana and Washington state have made similar 
rulings in the past.

Over a decade ago in Oregon, a forklift driver who had a medical 
marijuana card was also fired after taking a drug test following an 
accident at work. The state found no evidence he had been impaired on the job.

But Maurer, the fired anchor, said she was tired of hiding the use of 
a substance that's now legal in the state and wants to start a 
conversation about the drug. She's also planning a new career in the 
marijuana industry.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom